Barça wanted money upfront from Mediapro’s NR bid

LaLiga giants Barcelona have turned down a $300m (€264m) bid for Camp Nou Naming Rights from communications group Mediapro.

The club claims it rejected the bid because it wanted to be paid upfront, but press reports indicate that talks between the two parties may have collapsed because the club wanted Mediapro to withdraw a lawsuit against former club president Sandro Rosell.

The lawsuit relates to a series of disputed static advertising contracts.

But Barcelona spokesman Josep Vives said Mediapro’s bid was not viable as it was “not in writing and they wanted to pay in installments and without interest”.

Vives added: “When Barça’s members approved the Espai Barça project, it was with the idea that €200m [should come] from the naming rights before the work began. Mediapro wanted to pay the money over 20 years.”

Barça hope to sell the naming rights for Camp Nou for at least $200m.